The invention relates to a circuit configuration in particular a semiconductor circuit configuration, with a protection device that analyzes interference signals in electrical input signals.
In many electrical systems and circuit configurations, specific signals are output by parts of the system, for example by drivers, and are made available and transferred to other parts of the system, such as receivers. What is problematic in such electrical systems, circuit configurations, in particular semiconductor circuit configurations, memory devices, DRAM elements or the like is that in many cases the actual signals that are to be received and further processed have an interference superposed on them, in particular in the form of interference signal spikes, which, on external data/command lines, can lead to malfunctions in the course of reading and/or further processing of the corresponding information. This applies to integrated circuits of all kinds.
In order to avoid these undesirable influences and associated malfunctions, in conventional circuit configurations filter devices are provided in the input section, which are intended to filter out and/or separate the corresponding interference signal spikes. This is achieved by correspondingly restricting the bandwidth of the electrical input signal. The filter circuits provided for this purpose take up an appreciable space in conventional circuit configurations. Moreover, the filter devices provided increase the transient recovery time of the actual receiver circuit in the input section of the circuit configuration. This leads to a poor performance of the entire circuit configuration.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a circuit configuration, in particular semiconductor circuit configuration, memory device, DRAM element or the like, which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known circuit configurations of this general type and in which the ingress and the transfer of an interference signal present in the input section of the circuit configuration can be suppressed using particularly space-saving devices and nonetheless reliably.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a circuit configuration, including:
a processing section;
an input section operatively connected to the processing section, the input section being configured to at least receive an electrical input signal fed to the input section and to transfer the electrical input signal to the processing section, the input section including a reception circuit, an input line device, and a transfer line device connected to the processing section;
a protection device formed in the transfer line device, the protection device including a processing circuit with a filter device and a frequency converter connected downstream of the filter device;
a feed line device connected to the protection device, the feed line device being at least configured to feed the electrical input signal from the input line device to the protection device;
the protection device being configured to analyze the electrical input signal with regard to interference signals present in the electrical input signal;
the filter device being configured to split off a given high-frequency component from the electrical input signal and to provide the given high-frequency component as a processing signal;
the frequency converter being configured to transform the given high-frequency component of the electrical input signal into at least one frequency range selected from the group consisting of a low-frequency range and an intermediate frequency band; and
the protection device being configured to prevent a transferring of the electrical input signal from the input section via the transfer line device to the processing section when interference signals are present in the electrical input signal.
In other words, according to the invention, the circuit configuration, in particular semiconductor circuit configuration, memory device, DRAM element or the like includes:
an input section, which is configured at least for receiving an electrical input signal that is fed in and for forwarding it to a processing section and which has, to that end, an input line device and also a reception circuit and a transfer line device toward the processing section;
a protection device formed in the transfer line device;
a feed line device, by which at least the electrical input signal can be fed to the protection device from the input line device, the protection device being able to analyze the electrical input signal with regard to interference signals contained therein; and
a processing circuit having a filter device, by which filter device a predetermined high-frequency component, in particular an RF component, can be split off from the electrical input signal and can be provided as a processing signal, in particular to an evaluation circuit, the processing circuit has a frequency converter or the like, the frequency converter is connected downstream of the filter device, through the use of the frequency converter a high-frequency component of the electrical input signal can be transformed, preferably shifted, into a low-frequency range, and/or into an intermediate frequency band, and when there are interference signals present in the electrical input signal, the protection device can prevent the transfer of the electrical input signal from the input section via the transfer line device to the processing section.
A generic circuit configuration, in particular semiconductor circuit configuration, memory device, DRAM element or the like, has an input section, which is configured at least for receiving an electrical input signal that is fed in and for forwarding it to a processing section provided in the circuit configuration and which has, to that end, an input line device and also a reception circuit and a transfer line device toward the processing section.
In the case of the circuit configuration according to the invention, a protection device is provided in the transfer line device. Furthermore, a feed line device is provided, by which at least the electrical input signal can be fed to the protection device from the input line device. According to the invention, the protection device is configured to analyze the electrical input signal with regard to interference signals contained therein and, when there are interference signals present in the electrical input signal, to prevent the transfer of the electrical input signal from the input section via the transfer line device toward the processing section.
A basic idea of the present invention is that, instead of a filter device formed in series with the reception circuit, preferably upstream thereof, a protection device is formed essentially in parallel therewith, in which protection device the electrical input signal can be analyzed with regard to possible interference signals. If there is an interference signal present in the electrical input signal and if it is evaluated as relevant, then the electrical input signal is prevented from being transferred from the input section via the transfer line device toward the processing section. Consequently, by virtue of the configuration according to the invention, space-consuming and complicated electronic filter elements are avoided in the circuit configuration and the input circuit is not delayed in terms of its response behavior and transient recovery behavior.
In order to realize the parallel processing of the electrical input signal, a preferred embodiment of the circuit configuration according to the invention provides for the protection device to have an analysis circuit, which is configured for analyzing the electrical input signal in parallel with the input circuit, and a transfer circuit, which is configured for the controllable transfer of the electrical input signal to the processing section in the transfer line device.
This means that the transfer circuit is formed in series between the reception circuit and the processing section in the transfer line device. For its part, the transfer circuit operates for example essentially as a switch which regulates the transmission or blocking of the electrical input signal present from the reception circuit toward the processing section. This switching mechanism is controlled in the transfer circuit by an analysis circuit which is formed in parallel with the input line device and with the transfer line device, and which receives, processes and evaluates the electrical input signal in parallel with the reception circuit and then controls and switches the series-connected transfer circuit in the transfer circuit device in a manner dependent on the analysis or processing result.
A further preferred embodiment of the circuit configuration according to the invention provides for the protection device and, in particular, the analysis circuit to have a processing circuit, which is configured for processing the electrical input signal, and an evaluation circuit, which is configured for comparing the electrical input signal, a part thereof and/or a signal derived therefrom and/or for forming a decision with regard to the forwarding of the electrical input signal from the reception circuit to the processing section, the comparison being able to be carried out on the basis of predetermined comparison signals. The processing of the electrical input signal and its evaluation are functionally separated by virtue of this measure. On the one hand, the electrical input signal, parts thereof or else signals derived therefrom are processed and then forwarded as so-called processing signals to the evaluation circuit. This evaluation circuit then carries out the actual comparison with regard to specific specifications, i.e. with regard to comparison signals.
In this case, the processing circuit can be limited to processing specific signal components, in the case of which interference signal components are particularly problematic, or else encompass the entire signal. Furthermore, it is also possible to consider specific filtered components or transformed, for example Fourier-transformed, and/or spectral components or the like.
It is particularly advantageous that an evaluation signal having a first control value can be generated by the evaluation circuit and can be fed to the transfer circuit, which signal causes the transfer circuit to transfer an electrical input signal to the processing section if the evaluation circuit ascertains that the electrical input signal has essentially no signal interference.
On the other hand, it is also advantageous that an evaluation signal having a second control value can be generated by the evaluation circuit and can be fed to the transfer circuit, which signal can cause the transfer circuit not to transfer an electrical input signal to the processing section if the evaluation circuit ascertains that the electrical input signal essentially has signal interference.
These two last-mentioned measures essentially have the aim of generating an evaluation signal as control signal for the transfer circuit. This evaluation signal may advantageously assume two different control values corresponding, for example, to a logic xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d. If the evaluation signal is allocated the first control value, i.e. for example the logic xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d, then this means that the electrical input signal contains essentially no interference signal. This then leads to forwarding of the electrical input signal from the reception circuit to the processing section. By contrast, if the evaluation signal is allocated the second control value, namely for example the logic xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d, then this means that the electrical input signal essentially has signal interference. In that case, the transfer of the electrical input signal from the reception circuit to the processing section is not permitted or is prevented.
Different kinds of criteria can be used for making a decision with regard to the presence of an interference signal in the electrical input signal. By way of example, the input signal can be compared with a normalized input signal. This comparison can be effected pointwise over the entire temporal profile of the electrical input signal, deviationsxe2x80x94whether weighted or notxe2x80x94being summed in some form and functionally processed to give an evaluation signal. However, a more complex integral transformation in the sense of convolution or the like is also conceivable, in which case special forms of metrics or other statistical parameters or variables can also be used as comparison criterion.
A further preferred embodiment of the circuit configuration according to the invention provides for the processing circuit to be configured for processing at least one high-frequency component and/or RF component of the electrical input signal. This exploits the fact that signal interference in circuit configurations often occurs momentarily as so-called interference signal spikes. The momentary nature of these interference signal spikes results in a broadband nature of the signal spectrum in the frequency domain, i.e. when considering the Fourier transform of the electrical input signal. This means that the Fourier-transformed electrical input signal has critical amplitudes on account of the interference signal components in all frequency ranges, in particular including the RF or high-frequency ranges. By processing exactly these high-frequency or RF components, it is possible to search for characteristic features in the high-frequency range which would not be present without an interference signal component in the electrical input signal. Consequently, it is possible to ascertain in a simple manner, just by analyzing the high-frequency component or the RF component, whether interference signal spikes were present in the input signal.
In order to subject this high-frequency component or RF component of the electrical input signal to more precise consideration, a preferred embodiment of the circuit configuration according to the invention provides a corresponding filter device by which a specific, that is to say in particular a high-frequency or RF component can be split off from the electrical input signal and can be made available as processing signal, in particular directly to the evaluation circuit.
This construction fundamentally presupposes that the evaluation circuit is able to process high-frequency or RF components as such, to supply them for comparison and to evaluate them.
It is often the case, however, that the evaluation in the high-frequency or RF range is also complex in terms of circuitry, so that processing in the intermediate frequency band or in the range of lower frequencies is desirable. To that end, a further preferred embodiment of the circuit configuration according to the invention provides a frequency converter (mixer) or the like which is connected downstream of the filter device, in particular essentially in series, and by which an, in particular high-frequency, frequency component of the electrical input signal can be transformed, preferably shifted, into a low-frequency range or into an intermediate frequency band range. The effect achieved as a result is that, after xe2x80x9ccutting outxe2x80x9d the frequency ranges in the RF band that are critical for characterizing the interference signal spikes, the frequency ranges are shifted into a lower frequency band, namely that of the intermediate frequency band, for the purpose of more convenient, simplified analysis.
Operating a frequency converter, mixer or the like fundamentally requires a specific processing frequency. It is particular advantageous if the characteristic frequency of the frequency converter is precisely the frequency of a harmonic or fundamental frequency of a large signal that is fed to the circuit configuration or one that is present there. In this case, a clock or operating frequency that is present in the circuit configuration or is fed thereto is preferably used as the large signal.
Through the use of the procedure according to the invention, it is possible for example to examine an interference signal spike with frequency components in the GHz range by conversion in the frequency converter or mixer in the range of a few hundred MHz in a particularly simple, fast and nonetheless reliable manner, in order to generate an evaluation signal for controlling the transfer circuit.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a circuit configuration, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.